View source for Mir Castle Complex

{{Short description|Castle in Mir, Belarus}}
{{expand Belarusian|date=February 2024|topic=struct}}
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| WHS         = Mir Castle Complex
| Image       = Комплекс Мирского замка.JPG
| Location    = [[Mir, Belarus]]
| Criteria    = Cultural: ii, iv
| ID          = 625
| Year        = 2000
| Area        = 27 ha
| Coordinates = {{coord|53|27|4.46|N|26|28|22.80|E|type:landmark_region:BY|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin    = Belarus
| Website     = {{URL|http://mirzamak.by/en/}}
}}

The '''Mir Castle Complex''' ({{langx|be|Мірскі замак|Mirski zamak}}; {{langx|ru|Мирский замок|Mirsky zamok}}; {{langx|pl|Zamek w Mirze}}; {{langx|lt|Myriaus pilies kompleksas}}) is a historic fortified castle and a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] in [[Belarus]].<ref>{{cite news|title=21 World Heritage Sites you have probably never heard of|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=4 February 2016|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/10999939/21-World-Heritage-Sites-you-have-probably-never-heard-of.html|publisher=Daily Telegraph}}</ref> It is located in the town of [[Mir, Belarus|Mir]], in [[Karelichy District]] of [[Grodno Oblast]], {{nowrap|{{convert|29|km|mi}}}} north-west of another World Heritage site, [[Nesvizh Castle]]. Mir Castle Complex is {{nowrap|{{convert|164|m|ft}}}} above sea level.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://elevationmap.net/cyrvonaarmiejskaja-vulica-mir-belarus?latlngs=%2853.451386,26.473441999999977%29|title = Cyrvonaarmiejskaja Vulica Mir Belarus on the Elevation Map. Topographic Map of Cyrvonaarmiejskaja Vulica Mir Belarus}}</ref> Erected in the 16th century in the late [[Brick Gothic]] style, it is one of the few remaining architectural monuments of the former [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in contemporary Belarus.

==History==
[[File:MIR CASTLE COURTYARD - BELARUS.jpg|thumb|left|View from the courtyard]]
Duke {{ill|Juryj Ivanavič Illinič|be|Юрый Іванавіч Ільініч|pl|Jerzy Iwanowicz Ilinicz}} began construction of the [[castle]] near the village of Mir after the turn of the 16th century in the [[Belarusian Gothic]] style. Five towers surrounded the courtyard of the citadel, the walls of which formed a square of {{convert|75|m|ft}} on each side. In 1568, when the Ilyinich dynasty died out, the Mir Castle passed into the hands of [[Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł|Mikalaj Kryštafor "the Orphan" Radziwil]], who refitted it with a two-winged, three-story stately residence along the eastern and northern inner walls of the castle. Plastered facades were decorated with limestone portals, plates, balconies and porches in the [[Renaissance style]].

[[Image:Mirski zamak. Мірскі замак (N. Orda, 1880).jpg|thumb|300px|right|Drawing by [[Napoleon Orda]], 1876]]
In 1817, after the castle had been abandoned for nearly a century and had suffered severe damage in the [[Battle of Mir (1812)]], owner [[Dominik Hieronim Radziwiłł|Daminik Hieranim Radziwil]] died of battle injuries and the castle passed to his daughter Stefania, who married [[Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg]].  Later the castle became a possession of their daughter Maria, who married Prince [[Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst|Chlodwig Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst]].

Their son, [[Maurice Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst]], sold the castle to [[Nikolai Svyatopolk-Mirsky|Mikalaj Sviatapolk-Mirski]], of the [[Bialynia Coat of Arms|Bialynia]] clan, in 1895. Mikalaj's son [[Michail Sviatapolk-Mirski|Michail]] began to rebuild the castle according to the plans of architect [[Teodor Bursche]]. The [[Svyatopolk-Mirsky|Sviatapolk-Mirski]] family owned the castle until 1939, when the [[Soviet Union]] occupied [[Western Belorussia|Western Belarus]].

When German forces [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union in 1941]], they occupied the castle and converted it to a [[Mir Ghetto|ghetto]] for the local Jewish population, prior to their murders. Between 1944 and 1956, the castle was used as a housing facility, resulting in damage to the castle's interior.

In December 2000, the Mir Castle was listed by [[UNESCO]] as a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://landofancestors.com/travel/statistics/resources/culture-and-arts/287-landmarks-historic-and-cultural-and-natural-sites-of-the-republic-of-belarus-on-the-unesco-world-heritage-list.html |title = Landmarks, historic and cultural, and natural sites of the Republic of Belarus on the UNESCO World Heritage List |publisher = National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus |year = 2011 |website = Land of Ancestors |accessdate = 12 October 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160610080452/http://landofancestors.com/travel/statistics/resources/culture-and-arts/287-landmarks-historic-and-cultural-and-natural-sites-of-the-republic-of-belarus-on-the-unesco-world-heritage-list.html |archive-date = 10 June 2016 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

==Related World Heritage Sites==
*[[Nesvizh Castle]]
*[[Litomyšl Castle]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Mir castle in spring.JPG
File:Mir Castle Complex 107.jpg
File:Mir Castle Complex church.jpg
File:Мірскі замак. Выгляд на палац.JPG
File:Кабінет. Мірскі замак.jpg
File:Бальная зала. Мірскі замак.jpg
File:Castle of Mir, Byelorus.jpg
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Chapel-burial vault of Svyatopolk-Mirsky family]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Mir Castle Complex}}
*{{official|http://www.mirzamak.by/en/}}
*[http://www.belarus.by/en/travel/belarus-life/mir-castle Mir Castle] on [http://www.belarus.by/en/ official website of the Republic of Belarus]
*[http://www.panoramas.lt/index.php?page_id=133&pan_type=240&cat=247&subcat=149&type=33 Castle in Mir]
*[https://whc.unesco.org/sites/625.htm Official UNESCO site]
*[http://www.data.minsk.by/history/mir/ The Mir Castle]
*[http://szlachta.io.ua/album47476 Jurkau kutoczak — Юркаў куточак — Yury's Corner. Старажытнае дойлідства Міра]
*[http://map.f4-group.com/#lon=26.4729202&lat=53.4512442&zoom=19&camera.phi=-46.352 Mir Castle on 3D F4 Map]

{{World Heritage Sites in Belarus}}
{{Kresy Castles}}
{{Castles in Belarus}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Castles in Belarus]]
[[Category:Castles and palaces of the Radziwiłł family]]
[[Category:Brick Gothic]]
[[Category:Gothic architecture in Belarus]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Grodno region]]
[[Category:Karelichy district]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Grodno region]]
[[Category:Castles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Belarus]]